What is a Sweep?

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 What is a Sweep?

Hayden Bruck



    Recently in the news, we have heard that Portland plans to do sweeps, but what are they? A sweep is when crews will go from homeless camp to camp attempting to remove homeless people and their belongings in that area. Pre covid Portland would sweep 50 camps per week, and during the pandemic has gone down to about 5 with efforts to start doing more is being planned this summer.

    But what happens to the people and things after the sweep because these people have to go somewhere. Some people think it's inhumane. Imagine someone taking all the stuff you have and then telling you you have to find somewhere else to sleep, and they may never see what was taken from them again. They will often wind up in a neighborhood setting up camp there until they are told to move along again. It can cause distrust between the homeless people and the community, making them feel like dust that the city is trying to sweep under the rug.

    However, a group in the city of Portland does not just tell them to find somewhere else to sleep.  At least one group called Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare goes out to these camps before they are cleared and offers them other alternatives instead of finding another street to sleep on.  There success rate of those who choose to check it out is very harsh.

    Homeless camps are a huge problem in Portland. There is usually trash everywhere, it smells and is sometimes taking up more than half of a sidewalk where sometimes it feels safer to walk in the street. However, picking up the trash and trying to push it to the side will not fix the problem. It's kind of like whack a mole where once you try and clear one another, one will pop up somewhere else. We need more homeless shelter groups coming out during these sweeps to give them a better option and tell them that they don’t have to live this way.


References: KGW News. (2021, May 27). Where do houseless people in Portland go if their camps are swept? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWQ52v0KJWM

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